


It Happened On A Tuesday

by sstarrymorningss



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, First Meetings, First Person, Imagery Galore, Jughead POV, art gallery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-18
Updated: 2018-06-18
Packaged: 2019-05-24 21:52:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,584
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14962862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sstarrymorningss/pseuds/sstarrymorningss
Summary: “Um, excuse me. I think you dropped something.” A voice behind my shoulder caught my attention and pulled me from my increasingly morbid thoughts. I turned around and the first word that came to mind wasradiant. My keys were held in your outstretched hand. The sound must have escaped me when they dropped onto the concrete floor.“Thank you.” My eyes locked with yours as I took the misbehaving object out of your hand. There was something alluring about you; a depth hidden behind your eyes that had me wanting to dive right in and take the plunge. A small cough left your throat as you tore your eyes away from mine. I could tell the small action was as hard for you as it was for me.





	It Happened On A Tuesday

**Author's Note:**

> Something different that I am very much in love with. I hope this touches you in the same way I felt it while I was writing it. 
> 
> (Also Jenna and Sim are actual angels for putting up with my constant jabbering about this)

It happened on a Tuesday.

 

I was trying to escape the torturous feeling that seemed to plague my mind when I sat down at my computer and noticed the absence of words escaping my fingers. The document stayed blank, that damned line blinking tauntingly as my mind froze and every word I’ve ever know somehow disappeared. I shut the lid of my laptop in frustration, running my fingers through my hair as I tried to think of something to do, a distraction. 

 

A brochure I’d been given at some point caught my eye, the vivid colours and soothing patterns drawing me to it, almost like it was trying to tell me there was something special there waiting for me. After typing the address into my phone, I set off down the road, coat in hand despite the sun shining overhead.

 

_ I was never one to take chances.  _

 

The gallery attendant was perfectly pleasant, the smile on her face one of someone who had already dealt with too much that day and just wanted to crawl back into bed. I returned her expression, hoping it would stop her from elaborating too much. She seemed to be grateful for my reluctance to converse and got the message without any resistance. 

 

I strolled through the gallery, stopping at each of the works and examining them without much of a thought to what I was seeing. My eyes traced over the smooth curves of the sculptures while my mind was stuck back in my shoebox of an apartment, trying to free the words that I knew were just waiting to be typed out on the squeaky keys of my laptop. The spots and colours clouded my vision as I imagined different ways to torture the protagonist without seeming too cruel. 

 

“Um, excuse me. I think you dropped something.” A voice behind my shoulder caught my attention and pulled me from my increasingly morbid thoughts. I turned around and the first word that came to mind was  _ radiant _ . My keys were held in your outstretched hand. The sound must have escaped me when they dropped onto the concrete floor.

 

“Thank you.” My eyes locked with yours as I took the misbehaving object out of your hand. There was something alluring about you; a depth hidden behind your eyes that had me wanting to dive right in and take the plunge. A small cough left your throat as you tore your eyes away from mine. I could tell the small action was as hard for you as it was for me.

 

“How do you like the exhibition?” You seemed to be trying to avoid my gaze, voice timid and eyes glancing around the room but not seeming to find anything to focus on until they found their way back to mine. 

 

_ I never knew a second could last so long. _

 

“I don’t really know much about it but I find it impressive I guess. The fact that she can create something on such a big scale but still be able to share it with people.” My hand reached up to the back of my neck, rubbing slightly as I fought to keep the conversation going.

 

“I’ve always been in love with her work.” You spoke quietly, almost like you were divulging a secret that you wanted to stay between the two of us. The adoration was clear on your face as you looked around the room. Your smile was slightly softer than the tight lipped one you’d given me at first. This one reached your eyes and they somehow seemed to glimmer despite the fluorescent lighting we were standing under. 

 

“What does it mean?” It seemed like a silly question really. It was a work of art after all and I almost felt like I was cheating by asking for the answers instead of figuring them out myself but I couldn’t help it. I was already addicted to the sound of your voice.

 

“My life, a dot: that is, one of a million particles. A white net of nothingness composed of an astronomical aggregation that will obliterate me and others, and the whole universe.” You had turned slightly before speaking, breaking the silent connection so strong it was almost tangible, and looked straight ahead at the mirrored wall. The words fell from your lips in a practiced manner, giving me the impression you’d said them before. I watched curiously none the less. 

 

The tilt of your head as you studied yourself intrigued me, left me wondering if you saw what I saw. The way you fiddled with the hem of your t-shirt made it easy to figure out the answer to the question that only existed in my mind. 

 

“Did she say that?” I stepped forward slightly, bringing myself level with you and mimicked your posture, staring straight into the mirror. I wondered if you saw me in a different way to how I saw myself. Could you see the years of trauma that hid in my closed fists? Feel the insecurities radiating off me in the way you radiated sunshine? Sense the battery of thoughts I endured day after day, the abuse of a mind that refused to rest until it tore me down to nothing?

 

With one look of you, all that melted away.  You were celestial, ethereal. The kind of beauty that seems too pure to be human as all my thoughts went still and I was overcome with this incredible sense of peace that I didn’t even realise I’d been yearning for. 

 

“Yeah. I like to think that’s what her work is about. An endless cycle, a continuous infinity in which we can lose ourselves.” I could cycle through an entire universe of the English language but never be able to fully describe the look on your face in that moment. It was somewhere between awestruck and whimsical, safe and free, a galaxy of emotions wrapped up in a single star.

 

_ That was suddenly my favourite expression. _

 

I had never been overly invested in art, felt like a paintbrush or a sculpting tool could never quite capture emotions as well as a pen or a keyboard could, but I would’ve listened to you talk about this exhibition for hours on end just to keep that look on your face. 

 

It turns out, we did, talk for hours I mean. 

 

The same gallery attendant that had greeted me at the door came around what felt like seconds later and found us standing side by side and looking at one another through the mirror. Her voice was gentle as she asked us to finish up because the gallery was about to close. 

 

I always wondered if she could feel the importance of the moment she had interrupted or if her tone of voice was a passive aggressive way of masking the exhaustion she’d trapped in her eyes. Your hand reached for mine so smoothly that I couldn’t help but hold it in my own as you led me out of the gallery. Your fingers laced through mine and nothing had ever felt so natural. 

 

“Where to next?” You stopped abruptly and turned around to stand in front of me, grabbing my other hand as you looked up at me expectantly. Your enthusiasm caught me off guard but was far from unwelcome. I looked around us, once again searching for something to do but this time it certainly wouldn’t be a distraction, something to satisfy my need for a change in scenery while my mind stayed put. Now that I’d met you I didn’t think anything could take my thoughts away from your dazzling self.

 

“Surprise me.” The words slipped through the stupid grin my lips had somehow curved into, a side effect of being in your presence. You had this aura about you and I wanted to be closer to you so I could bask in the warmth of your glow. The light inside your soul was bursting out of you in the form of gold, soaking into the cracks in my skin through our joined hands. 

 

_ Two bodies but only one fully human.  _

 

“I think I know just the place.” Before my grin had the time to grow into a full blown smile you were off, dragging me along behind you as you started running through the square. The sound of your laughter whooshed past me as we moved further from the elegant gallery doors, closer and closer to the edge of the city. 

 

The stairs would’ve taken my breath away if you hadn’t stolen it first. You raced up them and if my hand hadn’t been clasped tightly in yours, bound by liquid gold, I would’ve been left in the dust where I belong. 

 

You lept off the edge of the pavement onto the grass below and I should have seen it coming but I was too captivated by the feel of your hand in mine, your pulse jumping and racing beneath my thumb. All of a sudden I was flying, floating, falling, plunging from the concrete ledge onto the grassy hill below. Your laughter was louder than the pain that attacked my joints as your hand escaped my grasp. 

 

Rolling down the hill, grass covering our clothes and attaching to the wild strands your hair, I felt untouchable in a way that was entirely ineffable. Lying in that grass with you felt like the most natural thing and only one thought lingered at the forefront of my mind.

 

_ I would take every chance with you. _

**Author's Note:**

> Please be kind and let me know what you think of this little something. I have a feeling that there may be more where this came from.


End file.
